Quotes from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

About how players make the difference in games, no matter what the system is, BSU coach Chris Petersen said:
"The bottom line is it always comes down to players. It doesn't matter what system you run, if you have got to have a lot better players than I have got you are probably going to win most of the time." (AJC)

AJC Note: "Score one for Georgia then, right? After all, the Bulldogs have been in the top 20 in the recruiting rankings for the past five years. Hawaii has never been higher than 82nd."

Praising UH's system, Petersen said:
"I will tell you what they do a heck of a job with that system and they have got some players to go into it so it will be interesting." (AJC)

About how UH believes in its offensive system, Nevada coach Chris Ault said:
"When you have a system that you believe in offensively and you continue to recruit better players to play in it you are going to get pretty doggone good and that is what (Hawaii coach June Jones) has done over there. Most importantly it is what they believe and what they do regardless of what team they are playing and what you are trying to do that is what they hang their hat on." (AJC)

About their running game, JJ said:
"We throw the ball, catch it and then we run after the catch. That is probably our running game." (AJC)

About how UH's running game isn't as good as last year (not surprising when the first and 2nd string RBs were drafted!), Fresno State coach Pat Hill said:
"The one thing they don't have, they are better everywhere except for one position. They have got more of a quickness running back. Last year they had the two backs that weighted 280 who could put it up in there." (AJC)

AJC Note: "When you are spread out and cannot send two men to tackle a big runner, large chunks of yards can be had."

About how defenses need a lot of good coverage DBs against Hawaii, Ault said:
"You better have a lot of people who can play some pretty good coverage because they can move the ball around. The way they spread the receivers out and the different types of situations they can put you in based on down and distance, they can really create havoc on a defense." (AJC)

About Colt's accuracy, Hill said:
"He is very accurate. He can throw all the balls and very accurate. When you talk about a system quarterback I don't believe all of that. Quarterbacks are put into a system they are allowed to flourish in." (AJC)

Hoping that UH doesn't get tense in the Sugar Bowl, Petersen said:
"I hope they don't feel pressure because then they won't play their best. I am hoping they will go over there and relax and really play the way they are capable of playing and if they can do that are going to represent their university, their state and the WAC very well." (AJC)


About how they have been teaching their players about UH and their background, Bobo said:
"We have been talking to the [players] about their tradition and what to expect. We are trying to give them some history lessons. The more you can familiarize them with what they are going through and what they are playing for, it helps make our guys more aware of what to expect." (AJC)

About how he's one of the few (possibly the only) Georgia player who have met Polynesian people, CB Thomas Flowers said:
"My dad lives in Seattle, and I go out there and I've got a couple of friends that are Samoan, and they can cook good, I know that. The food is real good, seriously." (AJC)

About how their players play better because of their pride in representing Hawaii, JJ said:
"There is a lot of pride in who we are, and our kids play at that little higher level because of that." (AJC)

About how mainland players are brought into their family, JJ said:
"When we get kids from California or we get kids from Texas, when they come we have a real melting pot. They are taken in and they are accepted. Really, this becomes their whole family and that is basically how the Polynesian culture works." (AJC)

AJC Note: "It actually goes beyond that. A few years ago, Samson Satele played for Hawaii. One year into his college career, Jones started to recruit Hercules Satele. Hercules was from Long Beach, Calif. Samson was from Hawaii."

About how Samson and Hercules had the same name, JJ said:
"I didn't think anything about it." (AJC)

AJC Note: "The players didn't say anything. But as it turned out, they were brothers. In the Polynesian community, the greatest gift one can give another is hanai, in which a child is awarded to a relative or close friend to raise. Such was the case with Samson and Hercules."

About how he didn't know the relationship between Hercules and Samson when he recruited Hercules, JJ said:
"I didn't even know they were brothers until they got here, and Hercules and Samson didn't really know either. It is a unique, special culture that I am honored to be a part of." (AJC)

AJC Note: "The community, in a sense, has adopted this team. Jones estimated less than 1,000 student tickets are sold to games. Instead the crowd is "cab drivers, the maids, the working guy, the fireman, the policeman that comes to support our team," he said. That support stems beyond what happens on the field."

About their fans, Colt said:
"It's not like they're just showing up to cheer to win a football game.' " (AJC)

AJC Note "Instead, they are showing up to reconnect with the pride they feel about their culture. That pride is evident in the way the team carries itself and plays."

About the pride that the Warriors take in representing their "country" of Hawaii, Georgia RB Thomas Brown said:
"I don't know much about their culture, but I do know they are very prideful people. They are kind of off in their own little country in Hawaii and that may make them more prideful. It is just them and the rest of America, although they are a part of America." (AJC)

About the ha'a, LB Marcus Washington said:
"They are going to come out, they are going to do their dance, but at the end of the day it is about playing football, not who can dance better." (AJC)